The "Overdose Photo" Boy Has Been Given A Safe New Home

The shocking photo of a three-year-old boy in the backseat of a car, looking on while his grandparents suffered a drug overdose, has resulted in life-changing news for the child.

American police posted the picture in an effort to show the disturbing effects of heroin; in the Facebook post, 50-year-old Rhonda Pasek and her 47-year-old boyfriend James Lee Acord can be seen slumped over in the front seat of their SUV.

Pasek, it's reported, had only recently been granted custody of the toddler after his mother, 25-year-old Reva McCullough, was also identified as a drug user.

According to the Daily Mail, McCullough - who dances at a strip club and goes by the name of "Mercedes" - "bawled for four days straight" when she first saw the photo.

Happily, the boy has been placed with a great aunt and uncle, hundreds of kilometres away, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it's hoped he'll have a fresh start.

Meanwhile, Acord is serving 360 days in jail for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and endangering children, while Pasek is also facing charges of endangering a child and public intoxication.

The original Facebook post, which was uploaded to the City of East Liverpool, Ohio's page on September 9, has been shared nearly 30,000 times and has had 12,000 "reactions".

Public safety chief Brian Allen said that making the arrest public in the way that they did had been the right move, with support being "90 per cent positive".

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